We have come a long way since the once largest social media platform, MySpace reached 1 million monthly active users in 2004. In 2020 we have 4.5 billion users utilizing the internet, and Facebook as the most popular social media platform with its 2.6 billion monthly active users, followed by YouTube, WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat, Instagram, TikTok, and so on.
This massive adoption of online platforms can be credited to affordable access to high-speed internet like Frontier Internet Service, mobility of internet-based devices such as smartphones, and AI-powered online platforms that cater to the whims of billions of individuals at the same time. In just April 2020, Google processed some 12.7 billion search queries, which testifies to the ubiquity of web platforms in our lives.
Where there are people, there are marketers and hence marketing turned digital and marketers started to showcase their products and services on social media, email, mobile apps, search engines, and websites.
In this age, digital marketing is an exceedingly cardinal tool for businesses to compete with their rivals for customer engagement and retention. However, not every business succeeds in the endeavor because of the lack of a foolproof digital marketing strategy as they may overlook some core factors.
Mentioned below are some elements that you need to look out for while formulating a failure-proof digital marketing strategy.
- Static Customer Activity
Any business, whether it’s brick-and-mortar or online, would only be up and running with the courtesy of frequent visitors. Therefore, your online store requires a steady stream of traffic, which also plays a huge factor in your organic rankings. However, the traffic should be borne from your relevant niche so visitors can convert to customers at your site. I
Irrelevant traffic such as visitors from a location where you don’t offer your service only increases your bounce rate and drop you in the rankings despite paid ads.
Therefore, it is essential that you pinpoint your customers by closely inspecting web, social, and ads analytics, and simultaneously monitor customer reviews, messaging apps, and any other customer interactions with your business that may help identify who your customers are and what they want. Only then, you can offer the right product to the right customer at the right time.
- Ad Not Matching the Landing Page
Your targeted ads should lead a customer to a relevant landing page. If a user ends up at the wrong page which doesn’t have the product you advertised that prompted them to click, then there is little chance that they would explore the site and find something else to their liking.
Often marketers entice customers to their site with juicy offers on the ads such as ‘up to 80% off on entire stock’ — with ‘up to’ conveniently in teeny-tiny font size. But once a customer reaches the site, they find that 80% off is on only a couple of useless products, and the rest of the sale isn’t that grand.
These sorts of misleading ads can put the customer off from your brand, so try not to exaggerate in your ads. Your ad can be enticing without being misleading; you just have to be creative.
Besides, the clicks on your ads cost money, so make sure you advertise the right ad to the right audience.
- Little to No Conversion
Apart from wrong visitors and landing pages, there are plenty of elements that may hinder your site’s conversion rate. Despite high traffic, customers may be reluctant to purchase anything at your site due to its bad first impression, and anything that flags it as untrustworthy.
Any number of things can put a visitor off:
- Lack of HTTPS protocol that may signal a visitor that your site isn’t secure and they run the risk of getting their sensitive credit card credentials leaked.
- Poor navigation, filtering, sorting, and search option.
- Something as harmless as a site design i.e. if you’re selling kids apparel, then the website them should be cheerful and bright befitting a child’s disposition.
- You may be turning away a lot of users if your site isn’t mobile-optimized as users who have had a bad experience at your mobile site are 62% less likely to purchase anything from your site in the future.
- Bad web copy can also put off your customer if the content isn’t enlightening enough and doesn’t persuade them how your product/service can be of use to them instead of your competitors’.
- Unnecessary options and recommendations on landing or checkout pages can distract your customer from the juiciest offer the page was supposed to make. Therefore, make sure to monitor shopper behavior via Google or e-commerce analytics.
- Something Not Right With Your Call to Action (CTA)
In every ad and at prominent locations at your website, you must place an unequivocal Call to Action (CTA) after listing out your offering. A CTA tells and even prompts customers into doing what you want them to do: Order online, call now, subscribe now, buy now.
Let them know what you want them to do in big, bold, clear words. Your CTA is the most important aspect of your website and ads, and it can dramatically increase your conversion rate. For example, adding CTA to your Facebook page can increase the click-through rate by 285%, and in emails, a single CTA can increase CTR by 371%.
Consider these elements as you craft and place your CTA:
- Too many CTAs in one place can be overwhelming for your audience. Imagine finding all these CTA in one place: find a local store, find products by category, save on your bill, see featured products, get tips & ideas, free shipping pass. Not so appealing, isn’t it? Instead, aim for a single and uncluttered CTA.
- You can perform A/B Testing to see which works the best.
- Know what you want your customer to do and craft the CTA accordingly. No confusing message or multiple CTAs.
- Make your CTA prominent using a contrasting color for the CTA button.
- Don’t ask your customer to purchase from your site if you are at the Awareness Stage with your audience, 84% of them will run away from your site. Instead, slowly ease in, maybe offer a free trial?
- Is Your Digital Marketing Strategy Outdated?
Are you keeping pace with current digital marketing industry practices? Digital marketing is an ever-evolving field, online platforms frequently release updates in order to deliver more relevant content and ads to its audience and curb any deceptive practices.
Keep a lookout for strategies that you may be implemented, but are now frowned upon by the platform such as an unnecessary focus on clicks instead of conversion rate, utilizing black hat SEO techniques (SEO goes hand in hand with Search Engine Marketing), preferring quantity over quality, purchasing email lists, unsegmented ad campaigns, keyword-based content, and lastly, a separate marketing and digital marketing team.
Apart from being well-versed in SEM, SEO, and Social Media Marketing techniques, your digital marketing team should also be familiar with other components of marketing that help marketers influence customers into making the desired decision.
Final Note
Now you are aware of some of the most important signs that detect a failing marketing strategy, you can now easily pinpoint weak points that need improvements. Taking these basic factors into consideration as you craft a marketing strategy can go a long way in contributing towards its success.
Baldwin Jackson is a successful digital marketer with expertise in search engine optimization and content marketing. The perfect balance of his analytical ability and creative thinking is what sets him apart from other practitioners in the digital marketing realm. He has helped a lot of small and medium-sized businesses in crafting their digital marketing strategies that are not only cost-effective but delivers results as well.
Baldwin is also a proud father of two kids and a Sports enthusiast. When he is not working, you will find him watching ESPN and NFL network.